With the May 11 special election just around the corner, the Hall County Young Republicans and Teen Republicans are bringing the 9th District U.S. House candidates to the Georgia Mountain Center tonight to tell voters where they stand on top issues.

BRASELTON - Former Braselton Mayor Pat Graham announced Tuesday that she is dropping out of the District 47 state Senate race for personal reasons.

According to Graham's campaign Web site, she was one of the first candidates to announce her bid for the seat, which covers Barrow, Madison and Oglethorpe counties, as well as parts of Clarke, Jackson and Elbert counties.

Voters in Northeast Georgia are heading to the polls to cast the first of what could be several election ballots over the coming months.

First up is the May 11 special election to fill the open U.S. House 9th District and Georgia Senate District 49 seats. Following that are the July 20 Georgia primary and Nov. 2 general election, with each vote also carrying the possibility of a runoff.

Three more candidates - Democrat Mike Freeman, Republican Steve Tarvin and Independent Eugene Moon - qualified Tuesday to run in a special election to fill Nathan Deal's vacant 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.